rebels are closing in on. the libyan capital after reclaiming several key oil in the east. nato members agree on taking command of the full military operations in libya on the ground forces make quick advances. in the capital city tripoli join me in a few moments from all. the foreign airstrikes a result of crimes against his own people criticizes the coalition forces for recklessness over civilian casualties. also in the news this week hundreds of thousands of britons marched in london enraged over huge cuts protests also gripped

the. cash flows into libya bombings. and the operator of the fukushima nuclear plant apologizes for early reports that radiation levels there are ten times the norm for the immediate withdrawal of the city. back at the week's top stories and the latest developments this is our live in moscow libyan rebels advancing west towards the capital tripoli off to further gains in the east of the country they claim they won back control of several strategic towns from forces meanwhile nato has agreed to take over command of all air operations in the replacing the u.s. at the helm of the coalition's campaign but has the latest for us now from tripoli

. most of sunday we saw these rebel fighters advancing with almost and lightning speed westwards through eastern libya they're now in the town of bin jawad which is about a two hour drive from the city of sets and the reason why search is important is that this is the hometown of the libyan leader moammar gadhafi is where it is where he has his major supporter base now we know that the rebels along the way encountered very initial resistance this is partly because they were driving through the desert and also because we're hearing that gadhafi forces were treated to set a head of this rebel advancement of the soldiers simply abandoned their military equipment along the sides of the road so the focal point now will be on sirte when those rebels reach said we are expecting that they will be a major showdown between the pro and anti kadafi forces and this is where the role of the international community becomes so critical because we are hearing the rebel fighters pour on the coalition partners to continue with the airstrikes on sirte which they have been doing for several days now and to continue to give them

a power now the other focal point we've been watching throughout the course of the day is the city of misrata in western libya this is a city that is firmly in the hands of gadhafi is me and it has been for several days now the rebels simply aren't able to take over there and they are today calling on the international community to assist them with more a strikes nato countries have made in brussels where they discussed enlarging the nato command of this operation so what essentially we're going to see now is nato taking control of the military operations on the ground here in libya from the coalition of the british the french and the americans until now there's almost been two parallel operations the one by nato that is essentially forcing a no fly zone and the arms embargo and the one under the leadership of the americans which was essentially targeting ground forces and tanks so those now come together those military operations firmly in the hands of nato the sticking point at this meeting by nato members is of course the rules of engagement just. far can

the international community go in terms of involving itself in what is happening on the ground and hear the questions of civilian casualties making sure that civilians are not injured or killed in any kind of international action is what is being discussed on the table we know that the french are very much against nato taking over control of this whole operation and we know too that turkey would very much see this operation be very limited in terms of its scope it would rather just have the international community's involvement being that of enforcing the no fly zone and nothing more than that the latest news we have though is that the command and control center will not be based in western turkey in the town of izmir we also know now that once this whole operation is enlarged it will not be up to one country to say when where and if and a strike must take place that will not meet this broad consensus what is important though about those nato enlargement and nato taking control of the full military operations here is that it certainly will send

a message to the arab world and it will be much more tasteful for arab countries to be able to come to the party in terms of a mission that is under the nato leaders ship in mind that is under the american leadership there is a summit that has been planned on tuesday in london there the contribution of the arab world will be much more to meet discussed in terms of what they bring to the party we're also hearing that the italians are proposing and immediate cease fire and the establishment of humanitarian corridor also that she will be clarified at this meeting on tuesday in london. in tripoli journalist afshin return she told me earlier that the fact that nato will lead the coalition's efforts in libya doesn't mean that the u.s. is no longer in charge. they say it's a nato operation turkey is expressing a lot of reservations as to whether it's gone too far i think we can bet that there are already s.a.'s and other forces on the ground and as for a nato european compared to u.s.

led in terms of this mission i think it's absurd the united states of course is still behind it even though robert gates and so on had a lot of reservations about it there were five abstentions for u.n. resolution one hundred seventy three and would have to the african union would just not care about them because they unanimously didn't want what is going on now as for the arab league a very very iffy support for this although for them it could be a win win as were the autocrats who are in power the dictators who are in the arab league can now blame the protests in their own countries on zionist american conspiracies because after all they come to help the protests in libya also they get to topple a dictator that hasn't been good to them because he's always looked at africa you won't see any or egyptian help for this nature operate i think that that question needs to be answered by all these nato leaders why do you think it is here in egypt and involved because they see

a great danger of western powers trying to get involved with this oil rich nation i'm sure that there are people on the ground in the coalition. from. planning the future and what the future government will be i fear it won't be the got a democracy that we saw in the natural revolutions as it were in tunis here in egypt. russia says the u.n. backed military intervention in libya is a result of colonel gadhafi crimes against his own people but president dmitry medvedev also criticized the coalition bombing saying the no fly zone was meant to strengthen peace and that civilians should not be put at risk. everything that's happening in libya is a result of the shameful behavior of its government and the crimes against their own people we shouldn't forget that everything else is just a consequence of that we supported one of the un security council resolutions and allowed the other resolution to go through this was done consciously to prevent the escalation of violence but still the events that followed showed that any decisions

of this kind should be accompanied by thorough consultations for as well as remembering that the use of force should be proportionate to what is happening the fact that as a result of these actions opinion targets were damaged and according to unconfirmed reports innocent people have died shows that states taking part in the military strikes have achieved i hope that as a result of coordinated actions by the international community there will be peace on libyan soil and full measures will be taken to prevent the conflict from spreading into africa and other states. and russian prime minister vladimir putin says he's concerned by the number of civilian deaths in libya foreign air forces have been too reckless and their actions. there is a civil war going on in libya the proposal of a no fly zone was aimed at preventing gadhafi from firing it is appalling and so protect civilians such a decision applied to a sovereign state is a difficult one but the aim was well intentioned but what are we seeing now that it

is strikes on the entire territory of the country and how can it be aiming to protect civilians such means are chosen to civilian death toll actually rises. that unions the u.s. defense secretary was in moscow this week calling on the russian leadership to think about joining the military campaign in libya and although moscow abstained from voting on the un resolution which led to the no fly zone enforcement it ruled out getting involved in the coalition bombing robert gates assured prison that major operations in libya would scaled back within a few days it wasn't the only military issue which came up missile defense in europe was also discussed moscow wants an equal partnership in the project saying any other option would be a threat to its own security gates promised russia's concerns have been taken into account. well by the way our extensive online coverage helps to bring you up to date with the developments there in libya twenty four hours

a day you can check out our regular updates from our correspondents on the spot that's all on our twitter and facebook pages and you'll also find all the latest videos or not you tube channel. it's. a quarter of a million protesters took to the streets of london on saturday to voice anger over the government's plan to slash public spending demonstration against eighty billion pounds of cuts was britain's biggest. there were hundreds of arrests as part of the rally turned violent the windows of shops and banks were smashed and doused with paint and demonstrators argued the proposed measures will destroy essential

services and jobs and most of them says they're necessary to focus huge deficit on the kinds outpouring of anger follows a week or so or similar intense protests in brussels as all to the point. no more layoffs no to pay cuts no retirement the message from angry demonstrators pushed back with water cannon and pepper sprayed by riot police the protesters tried to get through to e.u. leaders meeting in brussels to slash spending this money was made. to be used for social security. to be used for the health not the bank so when you bring that world's first move to take brand because of the prison they close across europe voters are saying no thirty measures portugal's prime minister quit of the poll but voted down a fresh round of cuts because he has three months left to repay almost ten billion

euro at a time when its sovereign credit rating has been cut. the only option left. national default to tell lenders the country called pay back its loans or accept an e.u. bailout similar to greece and ireland it hasn't happened in the west since the second world war but the longer you postpone this necessary evil. the more costly it is is going to be at the same time military intervention in libya is costing hundreds of millions of euros many a furious so what they see as an unnecessary and expensive campaign somebody asked the chancellor of the finance minister about the financing of this and i think the overwhelming sense that you got from among the public in britain with skepticism with millions unemployed across europe people losing patience with politicians who seem out of touch with reality increasingly familiar sides on the streets of the

e.u. was government built tightly leaves growing numbers well to work the big question is now the right time to spend the money available on wars abroad the new bush brussels and european parliament member nigel for says people across the continent have every right to feel angry over cuts at home governments waste money abroad. we've had british troops on the ground in afghanistan now for over ten years i don't think there's any appetite for us getting involved in foreign wars where we cannot directly see our own national interest being threatened and where frankly if we go in to support the rebels we don't even know who they are or what they stand for or what they want i don't think anybody has thought this through and if they are going to put ground troops in that i think they're going to find in all the member states involved in this a real strong level of opposition when people see cuts in front line services for whatever reasons when people see their retirement age is going up when people see

the taxes both direct and indirect they're paying going up they have a right to question what on earth are we doing getting involved in an open ended commitment in terms of war with libya that could cost those goodness knows what else i do think but to a very close but i also feel as portugal is about to topple over as the next eurozone country writ requiring a bailout that that is actually going to cost each british taxpayer about four hundred pounds and that actually the biggest effect on our pockets this week wasn't the chancellor's budget but it was the fact that the portuguese government fell and they're about to be bailed out so i think people have every reason to be pretty angry that they see their own costs at home going up their services being cut a money being thrown overseas in all sorts of projects that they wouldn't necessarily support. you'll find more news features and analysis on our website that's r.t. dot com here's a taste of what's online there

a moment for your candidate causes outrage in the u.s. state of florida over his past as a former grand dragon of the ku klux klan. the web site of the moment one of the most elegant sporting contest in the world glides over to moscow russia's capital takes over the hosting of the figure skating world championships from earth stricken earthquake stricken. those stories and others available on our website now two weeks after the disaster hit the country the fallout at the fukushima nuclear plant is still a concern there in japan the plant operator tepco has apologized for misreporting a huge radiation spike at the facility it said earlier claims the radiation in the water at reactor number two had soared to ten million times the normal level where mistake that news led to emergency crews being immediately evacuated from the site japan's nuclear agency slammed tepco for making a number of mistakes in dealing with the crisis for consumers for reactors were damaged by the massive tsunami that hit the country earlier this month which led to

concerns of a nuclear catastrophe the battle to restore the facilities cooling systems has seen three workers being exposed to dangerous radiation levels lottie's other than it but to learn who knows firsthand what the consequences of a meltdown could be. on the scars of nuclear disaster for most of his life as a resident of nagasaki. he has had liver and kidney problems since he was thirty five and he's already beaten cancer twice every time he falls ill now he fears it could be his last battle. you sure are watches events unfold at fukushima fearing the true nature of the disaster is yet to show itself so you're saying that the result of the contamination won't just end off the event it will be handed down from generation to generation i have four daughters the first to have leukemia another has breast cancer the results of a disaster will be shown in generations to come. you should know was just eleven

when the bomb was dropped he survived the blast but was exposed to lethal levels of radiation on his two trips to the hypocenter first to find his father then to bury him despite everything he's pro nuclear power but still thinks fleeing from fukushima is the wise thing to do so then the i don't think the public or the government are overreacting in this situation i think people must take all precautionary measures they can to avoid the worst for the rest of the nygard psyche the stands today had to be built from scratch eleven square kilometers were jews to dust the cloud of its tragic past still hangs over the city its residents though know what it means to suffer and are willing to help those in need members of the international volunteer organization the lion's club here collecting for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami everyone's desperate to give with donations

already ten times higher than normal. we have a custom something happens in our nation we collect donations that would help each other especially the people and i guess i can be very very sensitive to atomic power so we are very worried about what happened. and we want to help more than. every way it sounded like a sack it is a memorial to the seventy five thousand died when the atomic bomb was dropped here this one marks that exact moment now the city will forever serve as a reminder of the destructive potential of our and there is here now praying that focus shima wherever in the same way now go psyches transformation has been remarkable ground zero is unrecognizable the city would escape any radiation from a meltdown at fukushima but there is a nuclear plant close by and the incident has left residents living in fear. but

not the. people from nagasaki and hiroshima are very sensitive to the incident fukushima we've never experienced such a devastating nuclear accident before and i think everyone is now free this could happen again i wasn't afraid of nuclear accidents before but now because i can see it's not under control. this memorial represents the wall to crave by so many off the explosion the basin's tranquility a far cry from the destruction wrought by the tsunami that has done its damage this place reminds us the ripples from a radioactive disaster extends for generations often minutes. and a sucky. japan's government has publicly urged the plant's operators to be more transparent and provide better information about what's going on not because she much more quickly experts say it's not the first time that facts about nuclear incidents have been intentionally concealed every single case where there have been

nuclear accidents in japan and in the united states in the soviet union. all the places that have had crises with nuclear power the initial response has been to lie and cover up the seriousness of the problem so i don't know why this one would be any different and i would put zero stock in what official reports are and how serious it is how much radiation has been released what the dangers are the i.a.e.a. has a long long record of being a basically a tool of the nuclear industry in all the countries that have nuclear power the i.a.e.a. has a major flaw which is that as an international body it basically answers to the government's. hold its purse strings and so it's very politically controlled organisation. well let's have a quick look at some other international news making headlines this hour syrian activists are calling for nationwide unrest with tens of thousands marching across

the country troops to be part of the city of the talking to restore calm after twelve people were killed during demonstrations on saturday the government blames gangs for the bloodshed and is expected to address the nation soon and lift an emergency law in place for almost fifty years. palestinian militants have been killed and another was injured by an israeli airstrike in gaza it happened a day after her said it would agree a ceasefire with israel if attacks on gaza were stopped. by increased violence with at least ten people including civilians and children killed by israeli attacks. in ivory coast why do you consider to be one of the country's disputed presidential elections has rejected the mediator chosen by the african union to steer the country away from civil war. personal links to comment leader laurent gbagbo statement comes off supporters rallied in the capital over one million people have

fled the country since violence following last november's election. a u.s. soldier is seeking political asylum in germany after dessert in an american military base sheppard could be jailed for life if he's extradited back home. asked him what he misses most by living a life on the run the american cuisine. for example outback steakhouse that was really good for me my personal favorite was the rollercoasters i can't. even come schools that. but for andre chaperonage he's alive has become one giant rollercoaster four years ago he deserted the u.s. army causing all the way to his native cleveland for rather his mom cried with pride when he volunteered for the army but after a six month tour of duty in iraq andre walked talked a u.s. base in germany and never returned anything that anyone could possibly imagine in

terms of war crimes that were committed throughout world history. the american forces have done this and are continuing to do this on a daily basis and were being attacked from somewhere but they didn't know where so they just shot off randomly in a different direction after hiding out for more than a year andre shepherd so faced he married a german security myself support from a number of human rights organizations and is now officially seeking asylum tucked away on the board of germany and austria lake cames it has long been popular with holiday makers but now the ideal exports may also go down in history as the whole of the post u.s. iraq war veteran granted political asylum to become this first is not going to be easy though germany is the main staging post for the u.s. military with around sixty thousand to u.s. troops stationed there each year some of those soldiers go

a while and get picked up by the police the pressure is very high on germany and i'm very often said in his speeches he's so sorry about that you know into putting so much pressure on the german government also we really love this country so much. andre will argue in court the war in iraq was a complete fraud but lawyers say he has little chance of winning the siegal war with the us it's particularly. more difficult if it is a war such as the war in afghanistan for example that you will talk you wore where it was not a popular war and if we just started having the rows of soldiers deciding on their own that they were no longer going to become a member of the united states military apparatus we'd have a problem and so there are very harsh penalties to wife.

including the possibility of their mainstream media in the so-called coalition countries are not in a hurry to give andrea say either the major corporations like the b.b.c. c.n.n. what would happen is that if i say anything that was controversial or would go against the government line it would be completely censored andras says he's ready for the battle of his life claiming there was no just a few cation for the war in iraq but he admits he's honestly pretty slope accidental crush of archie but now i'm keen germany. russian energy giant rosneft says it will defend its alliance with b.p. to pursue its exploration project that's despite a swedish court room earlier this week that the deal between the two oil companies they propose share swap b.p.'s russian based partners who said it would destroy their competitive advantage of b.p. and say they'll still be looking for ways to maintain a partnership and multibillion dollar share swap aside in general to exploit the

potentially huge deposits of oil and gas in russia's. well shortly we'll be looking at claims that major drug companies can actually be causing cancer that's our special report coming way shortly but i'll be back for that with headlines in a moment stay with us live here in moscow. it's

the secret incursion into the country. it's the invasion by means of. tradition the language july. thirty first copied the beat. and culture. the thing is. the how the dunes are still unaware of what's going on in the land still asking me what. it's like. i don't know if you brother. wealthy british style.

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